PAINing POORtraits…

November 8, 2013 |

A documentary by Adam Cooper-Terán, premieing November 8, 10pm, at The Loft Cinema.

PAINing POORtraits(Adam Cooper-Terán, 2013, 65min) follows painter-performer Steven Leyba Johnson as he reclaims and re-invents his work, giving friends and muses alike the opportunity to destroy his paintings. In his examination of Destruction, Transformation, Reclamation, and Rebirth, Leyba takes on various enemies, from ex-lovers to the Monsanto Corporation, even himself as the Hero/Fool. The film is an allegory for every true artist who creates and is a renegade to the system, fighting globalization, celebrity, consumerism, governments, multinationals, and the growing ineffectiveness of today’s activists.

Rev. Steven Johnson Leyba is a ritualistic, shamanistic painter of Mescalero Apache ancestry. His art is equal parts satanic, holistic, radical, political, and extremely personal. Utilizing various media, Leyba creates a celebration of the sacred and profane. Paint mixes with collage, beadwork, and DNA making bold statements about the world we live in and constantly questioning the very nature of Art.

Since 1989, Steven Leyba has produced 14 handmade books, huge volumes of bound works on canvas. Forms of these have been published by Last Gasp and Coyotel Press in books containing commentary by William S. Burroughs, H.R. Giger, Poppy Z. Brite, Clive Barker, and Genesis P-Orridge. He has been the subject of media attention for his controversial approach and subject matter, and in 2002 a documentary was made about the artist titled, Unspeakable:The Life & Art of Reverend Steven Johnson Leyba.

Leyba’s artwork has been collected by Vincent Price, William S. Burroughs, Stephen King, Clive Barker, David Cronenberg, H.R. Giger, Cornell University, A.I.M. (American Indian Movement), Genesis P’Orridge, Lydia Lunch, and the Black Panther Party.

Category: Entertainment, Film

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